Here's what you should know ahead of tonight's presidential debate.

"Trump’s campaign has signaled that the president will look to put Biden on the defensive over his foreign policy record, particularly with regard to China, while the former vice president has said that he wants to use the debate to speak directly to the American people about kitchen-table issues, like health care, and Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But for now, there’s less pressure on Biden." (The Hill)

Read the full story on The Hill

• What's happening: Tonight is the second and final presidential debate. It will run for 90 minutes without commercials from 9pm to 10:30pm Eastern.

Although this is traditionally a foreign policy-focused debate, there will only be one segment devoted to national security. The remaining topics will include COVID-19, race in America, climate change, American families, and a catch-all topic just listed as "leadership."

And there's one more rule change, too: each candidate's mic will be muted while the other delivers a two-minute initial response. Then both candidates can speak during follow-up.

• What's at stake: Given that more than 35 million Americans have voted already, this debate is unlikely to swing the entire presidential election. But, at the same time, it's likely the last chance to significantly change candidates' momentum ahead of November 3rd.

What we're thinking about ahead of tonight:

-- This is one of Biden's few prime-time performances in the 2020 election. This week, he's been out of the public eye, which his campaign said was due to his focus on debate prep. But whatever the reason, it was surprising for a presidential candidate to be functionally off the campaign trail just two weeks out from Election Day.

-- President Trump is the stronger debater. He was far better than Hillary Clinton in 2016, and he's likely to be judged the same versus Biden this year -- especially since Biden didn't even deliver a stand-out performance in the Democratic primary debates.

-- President Trump plans to put Biden on the defensive and will likely bring up the ongoing stories about Hunter Biden's alleged emails.

-- Biden is likely to remain evasive on specific policy promises. Just as the Democratic National Convention seemed empty of talk about policies, so too has Biden's campaign been focused on broad statements and ducking of any potentially controversial ideas from the far left, like packing the Supreme Court.

Senate committee subpoenas Facebook and Twitter CEOs to testify over the social media platforms' handling of story about Hunter Biden's alleged emails.

"Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday authorized subpoenas for the Facebook and Twitter CEOs after accusing them of engaging in 'suppression and/or censorship' of The Post’s reporting. [...] Twitter has refused to unlock The Post’s account unless the news organization deletes tweets about its own reporting. Facebook, meanwhile, suppressed the story in users’ news feeds." (New York Post)

Read the full story on the New York Post

• What's happening: This story has new twists and turns to it each day, so we'll do a very broad recap of the events that led up to this subpoena:

-- Last week, the New York Post published reports of emails it alleged were from Hunter Biden's laptop.

-- In response, Facebook said it was "reducing its distribution" -- with the "it" in question the New York Post's story.

-- Twitter went further. It first prevented site users from sharing the URL in tweets or direct messages; several accounts, including the personal account of the White House Press Secretary, were reportedly temporarily locked in response.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged the company's response was "not great." Twitter then explained a new, theoretically clearer policy in response to handling future events.

-- Now both Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey have been subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

• What's at stake: First, some Senate Republicans have said the stakes are exceptionally high. Sen. Ted Cruz has said that tech CEOs "must be held accountable for interfering in this election."

Second, we think this editorial from National Review summarizes the issues quite well: "For one thing, it further damages the reputation of Big Tech. For another, it renders the industry more susceptible to a new regulatory regime already being championed by some in Congress. Mostly, however, it just makes the story they’re trying to suppress a far bigger deal."

Ironically, Twitter's attempted block of the story seemed to have the opposite effect, with the Daily Wire sharing one report that explained "shares of the Post article ‘nearly doubled’ after Twitter started suppressing it."

Biden's "non-answer" on court packing shows he "is terrified of his radical base, and lacks the guts to take a stand in public."

"Cunningham on Wednesday apologized to voters during his remarks at the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Green Tie Awards [...] 'Before we get into the issues that most affect this campaign, I want you to hear something directly from me,' Cunningham began. 'I am deeply sorry for the hurt I have caused in my personal life and I also apologize to all of you.'" (National Review)

Read the full story on the National Review

• What's happening: Joe Biden has refused to give an answer on whether he would pack the Supreme Court, i.e. expand the number of justices past the current nine.

But in an interview shown today, Biden answered. Sort of. He said he'd form a commission that would give him recommendations on how to "reform the court system" -- which could include alternatives that go "well beyond packing" -- in 180 days. That's six months.

• What's at stake: First, this suggests that Biden may give in to the push from the progressive left to pack the Supreme Court or take measures beyond that -- even though polling shows most Americans oppose those policies.

Second, as this insightful National Review piece notes: "This is a transparent dodge. Joe Biden spent 36 years in the U.S. Senate, and eight as the vice president, and this is his third presidential campaign. [...] Unless Biden’s mental state has declined worse than we think, there is not a chance in the world that he requires a commission to tell him what to think on this issue. The reality is that Biden is terrified of his radical base, and lacks the guts to take a stand in public. That bodes poorly for his presidency across the board."